Trump continues to rip Martha for her “piece of garbage” Apprentice

Just days away from the debut of The Apprentice 5, Donald Trump continues to rip apart Martha Stewart and her version of The Apprentice, not that the two have anything to do with one another.

In another Newsweek interview (is there no other news this week?), Trump says he attacked Martha because “when somebody screws me, I become a great warrior. And this woman, for her to be talking about me, that she was going to fire me?” He continues to insist that he was never going to leave the series, even though producer Mark Burnett confirmed to Newsweek that was true. Why Newsweek’s reporter just lets Trump ramble on and say the same things all over again instead of challenging him on this is beyond me.

The new interview does show some growth, though, as Trump is toning down his talk about The Apprentice being “the number one show on television.” He said, “I had the No. 1 show on television. It’s still doing great, but at the time it was the No. 1 show on television.”

This interview also provides insight into Trump’s exaggeration methodology. He says, “there’ve been 15 copies of the ‘Apprentice’ so far, Mark Cuban, Richard Branson, Tommy Hilfiger, Hilton and Martha. She’s one of 15.” As any person with five fingers to count on can figure out, that’s actually just five copies of the show, and each of those just lasted one season, so again, five. But to get to 15, like Trump said, you either need to multiply by three or add 10. Thus, when dealing with Trump’s claims, subtract 10 or divide by three, and see what you end up with.

about the writer

Andy Dehnart is a journalist who has covered reality television for more than 15 years and created reality blurred in 2000. A member of the Television Critics Association, his writing and criticism about television, culture, and media has appeared on NPR and in Playboy, Buzzfeed, and many other publications. Andy, 37, also directs the journalism program at Stetson University in Florida, where he teaches creative nonfiction and journalism. He has an M.F.A. in nonfiction writing and literature from Bennington College. More about reality blurred and Andy.

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